Review of Max & Lily Solid Wood Twin over Twin Bunk Bed – WORTH IT?

This time I decided to review Max & Lily Solid Wood Twin over Twin Bunk Bed because I saw the demand for it, and not a single professional review has been written for it.

Today I change it.

I have been writing various reviews and helpful information on this bunk bed site for quite some time now, and each bunk bed has its own pros and cons. I’ll tell you exactly what you should avoid and what to pay attention to. If something is expensive, it doesn’t necessarily mean that quality comes with it.

It’s a dangerous pitfall that many fall into, and since we are talking about our kids and their safety, it is important to pay close attention to such things. I’ve given plenty of negative reviews to bunk beds and if I see something, I won’t make any exceptions to this one either.

Max & Lily Solid Wood Twin over Twin Bunk Bed Details:

Max & Lily company isn’t really a popular one among bunk bed manufacturers. If you’ve seen them before, it’s probably while searching for stools, benches or similar bunk beds but with different sizes.

I have nothing against them, even though they do seem a bit green in the mass market world, which translates to how they deal with shipping. Do they deliver though? Did they make a good bunk bed?

I was surfing the web today and was looking for a decent bunk bed to review when I accidentally stumbled upon this twin over twin bunk bed. My immediate thought was that it’s a bit overpriced considering how it looks.

Usually, bunk beds that cross the 500-600 dollar mark are starting to sell stairs with it, or at least have a unique design to it.

Nope, it was seemingly just a regular looking bunk bed with lots of customization options. At first, I thought not to review it immediately, but upon seeing how many people buy this bunk bed and the interest in search results, I am now writing this review.

Let’s start from the beginning. The summary is below if you are interested in skipping and getting to the meat of it.

Sturdiness

How much it sways back and forth, left and right, play a big role in reviews. It oftentimes shows us how well something is built. If all the connections and the material itself isn’t good, it would obviously move a lot and eventually break.

This bed holds its ground well.I’ve seen and used bunk beds that shake so much that even seasoned fishermen would start to get seasick. That’s why it’s pleasing to see that it does not move much and even when years go by, it still serves you and your children faithfully.

You can argue that swaying is not that important, but trust me – even when I was little, it got annoying. In the beginning, it was quite fun and cool to have a bed that moves a bit, but after a while turning to the other side was just a hassle because the shakiness waked me up. That was one of the reasons why I transferred myself to lower bunk bed when I was little.

This Max & Lily bunk bed is strong though. The only time you would feel any swaying is if you put an adult up top and made him move back and forth. Since I trust that you, parents, are not buying it for yourselves, I wouldn’t worry about it.

So because of that, it has my approval.

Sound

You never want that. If with sturdiness you could argue a bit, the sound is universally hated by everyone, especially when the said furniture is part of your sleeping schedule.

This bed does not squeak.

Metal beds and wooden bed all make sounds, but metal ones are usually the most annoying ones. They make that high pitch screaking that no one really likes whereas with wood it’s more like wood burning in the camp enhanced for your ears. Not really pleasant, but not as bad as it could be.

This Max & Lily bed does not make any sound. Be aware of such things, especially when buying furniture that is for the long term. Some beds you can call late bloomers because they only start to emit sounds when time goes by, but as far as I know and read from other users of this bedstead, it’s quiet.

You’ll be sleeping well.

Weight Capacity

Always an important part of any bed. How much weight can it actually hold? In my experience, the kings of weight capacity are beds that are made out of metal.

Every time I read that a wooden bunk holds 400lbs, I am kinda in doubting that. They may have tested it up to 400 pounds but that doesn’t mean it can safely hold as much for years.Nevertheless, it seems I may be wrong this time. 400 pounds is what they advertise for usage and they back it up with having metal support bars and metal connection parts. All that can truly make a difference when it comes to holding extreme amounts of weight, so I wouldn’t downplay that.

However, would I recommend testing it with such weight each night? No, at max I would give it at around 300 pounds and that’s being generous. There have been customers who blamed this bed for breaking when a regular sized man sat on the lower bunk. I actually don’t think it’s because of the design or even material itself, but more due to faulty shipping. Shipping is something that can definitely be blamed for as it’s not rare to see buyers of this bed complain about the shipment. More about it below.

But in terms of the weight limit, it’s as good as it can get for this material.

Assembly

Instructions always need to be simple and straightforward. If you make a Chinese labyrinth out of those assembly instructions, it’s not only a pain in the butt to build it, it can compromise the entire design.

For example, screws shouldn’t be tightened too much or stress on connection parts can lead to bed breaking at some point. Are things like that mentioned in the pages?

Yes.

You’ll have absolutely no problems with assembling this bed, and you can do it even alone, even though 2 is recommended. The only problem you may have is within shipping because as I have done some research, an alarming number of customers weren’t happy with how long it took to deliver this bunk bed. I read often that they promise one date, but then come late and deliver it the next day instead.

It’s not part of the assembly but I decided to write it here nonetheless since it’s an important part of the furniture experience.

The comfort of Going Up and Down

If you know me, I am always against ladders. Especially against ladders that are vertically placed.

Unfortunately, almost all my dislikes with climbing on bunk beds are present on this Max & Lily bed.They have created hand holes on the ladders themselves so our kids can hold something while moving, but considering that you can either take the rungs themselves or hold the ladder by its sides, I don’t really see a huge point in it.

I would much prefer the ladder to be diagonal so that it’s easier to place your feet on the rungs. When I was little, I have misstepped more than once when climbing down. You do it at an awkward angle and coupled with morning weakness, it’s sometimes easier to just jump down.

So no, I wouldn’t say that the comfort is good with this one.

Design

When we go shopping and buy whatever, aesthetics and looks are oftentimes what determine our choice in purchasing.

I would love for this bed to have some curves or something that peacocks itself from other choices.Looks are subjective and you may not agree with what I am about to say but for my taste this bed is too bland, especially considering how expensive it is.

You cannot just rely on how good the material is and just up the price to such heights. I’d definitely change something to make it look more extravagant and awesome. I would also remove the stickers they use to cover the holes. Instead, wooden buttons would be a lot cleaner and would look natural.

Eco-Friendliness

That is important not only for the environment but is useful for the health of our children. Sometimes they finish the wood with something that smells so bad that it doesn’t really leave the room even after months.

With this solid wood bunk bed, you WILL feel the smell after unpacking all the parts and assembling it BUT it won’t last long and that slight chemical smell will leave the room after few days.

You can open the windows as often as you can during those days and there is a change that you won’t even feel it then either.

Customization

It’s not really super important for many people but it’s a nice feature to have.

What do I mean by customization?For example, converting a bunk bed into two separate ones is quite useful, and this bunk bed allows you to do it. Whether you want o separate the kids, or maybe just change the kids’ room scenery, it will come in handy.

The placement of ladder is also part of the customization and it allows for that as well. You can put it anywhere you want, and if you have specific plans for your room and how it looks, it comes in handy.

If you want to add to it, you can buy a trundle or additional storage drawer underneath it. It is sold separately so that people who do not want those things don’t have to pay more than they need. I have no problems with that. The only time I have problems is when someone advertises one thing in the title and in the pictures but delivers another.

Material

The material is what defines how strong the bunk bed is.

If the material is bad, then the whole structure may be compromised. That’s one of the biggest reasons why this bunk bed is so highly priced.They are using Solid New Zealand Pine that can be seen as softwood but actually is similar to hardwood in its qualities. They removed all the knots to make it even stronger and made the panel itself of ply to prevent warping and cupping.

I have absolutely no problems with the material they used for it. Compared to some beds, it’s rather good and resilient to the test of time.

Summary

I like this bunk bed. It doesn’t look much but it has a solid foundation so that it doesn’t disappoint you. If you want what you are advertised for, then it’s for you.

If would love to see stairs with it or at least some kind of an awesome design coupled with it, but not everyone needs it. It’s a matter of taste.You won’t bamboozled by Max & Lily furniture, at least not with this one. In my opinion, the price is a bit too high, and if not for the quality of the material, I would definitely call them out for it.

If you want something simplistic, then I can recommend you this bed. You can choose 4 different colors, as well as additional accessories. Accessories will add a 100 bucks to the price, so be aware of that.

All in all, a nice, thick and solid piece of bed in my opinion. It won’t fail you!

(You can choose customization options for Max & Lily solid wood twin over twin bunk bed once you click on the button below and choose the appropriate color and see what other customers have viewed)

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6 Responses

Hi Boyka. Nice website, very informative. Most moms love how using a bunk bed organizes space a little better. It also helps children learn about community living and how to share spaces with others, even if they take each others toys, and missplace the books the other has been reading. I like how detailed your points are, especially how you include the sound part, because they do tend to get a little squeky. Great selection of styles and sizes and colors. Thanks!

Hi Alexander.
I agree that when it comes to kids ,their safety is important. Your review about kid’s bunk beds i great. The sturdiness, weight capacity and material is what I consider most. The use of Kid’s bunkbed I think is best depending on the weight of the kid who will sleep at the upper bed. Although, it is a space saver but a bunkbed that can be costumized converting it into two separate beds is advisable.Other than that,I enjoyed reading your article. Thanks for it is very informative. All the best!